TSI Timing Chain Tensioner Replacement Procedure

by GTR34 feat. Snowball the GTI

Section 1 - Tools Needed Section 2 - Lifting the vehicle Section 3 - Disassembly

Section 1

Engine Bridge / Crank Counterhold tool T10355A / Giant Carabiner / Torque Wrench 1/2 in. drive and 1/4 in.
Drive (range from 3 ft. lb. to 150 ft. lb.) / Breaker Bar and Extension / 1/2 to 1/4 Ratchet Set / Flathead
Screwdriver / Plastic Scraper / 5mm Pulley hold Pin / Lower Timing Washer T10368 / Short 12mm triple square
bit / 10mm open end wrench / T20 & T30 torx bits / 24 mm Deep Socket / 17mm socket / 10mm socket / socket
extension set / socket u-joint set / New Timing Tensioner / Timing Tensioner Cover / Permatex Gasket Maker /
New Crank Bolt / Engine Bracket Bolt N10701501 / Engine Mount Bolt N10552402 / 2 Axle Stands / Hockey
Pucks / Trolley Jack (larger jack preferred) / Block of Wood for Jack
DISCLAIMER: Whatever you do to your vehicle is on your own account. I am simply providing useful
information to perform a task. If you decide to do this to your car, it is at your own risk. Please wear gloves
when dealing with oil and fluids, wear safety glasses and keep body parts away from the vehicle when lifting. I
am not responsible for damage done to your car, as I have done this with no damage resulting.

Section 2 - Lifting the Vehicle

Begin by breaking the wheel lug bolts loose with your 17mm breaker bar / socket. Chock the rear wheels and
use a hockey puck on the jack to lift the vehicle.

Lift from the pinch weld just behind the front wheels. I used 2 jacks simultaneously to distribute the force and
raise the vehicle evenly. Place the axle stands on the control arm bushing block. I used two pieces of rubber
gasket material to act as a pad between the stand and the car.
 Section 3 - Disassembly

Locate the noise pipe to the left of the camshaft cover. In order to remove this, we must remove the hoses
held by the noise pipe and undo the spring clip near the firewall as well as the squeeze clamp near the base of
the intake manifold. After removing the spring clip and pulling the squeeze clamp off, work the hose off of the
barbed plastic pipe and pull the noise pipe assembly out of the vehicle. It’s not entirely necessary to remove
the L-shaped formed hose nearest the intake manifold, but I did in order to gain more working room. Every
inch counts!

Next, Remove the washer fluid fill tube and unbolt the coolant reservoir so it can be moved around. Make sure
to unclip the plastic dog-bone shape connector from the lower hose which is connected to the coolant return
line. Disconnect the coolant Reservoir level connector.
Next, Unbolt and remove the fender liner, lower aero plate and lower fender liner secured with T20 torx. This
will allow you access to the engine.

Now we will remove the charge pipe. Start by undoing the spring clip (NOT hose clamp) at the end of the turbo
outlet elbow. Then, unclip the spring clip at the inlet of the intercooler.

Then, remove the two T30 torx bolts that hold the charge pipe to the block. After removing these, remove the
small metal offset bracket that is attached to the engine which offsets the bolt holding the charge pipe. After
you remove the charge pipe, you will see it.

Now we will remove the charge pipe. Start by undoing the spring clip (NOT hose clamp) at the end of the turbo
outlet elbow. Then, unclip the spring clip at the inlet of the intercooler.

Then, remove the two T30 torx bolts that hold the charge pipe to the block. After removing these, remove the
small metal offset bracket that is attached to the engine which offsets the bolt holding the charge pipe. After
you remove the charge pipe, you will see it.
Next, mark the direction of rotation and use your breaker bar and 17mm socket to loosen the accessory belt
tensioner by turning the nut clockwise on the pulley. This is where the 5mm pin comes in. Insert this 5mm pin
into the hole at the top of the tensioner in order to keep it in place while removing the belt. I got my pin at
home depot, anything will work as long as it’s not too big.

Next we will Loosen but Not Remove the crank pulley bolt. I did this step next so that the major force work is
done when I need to suspend the engine, so as to maximize safety and certainty. If you do not have a lift, you
will have to raise your car for this. IIRC, my axle stands were about 4 teeth high.

I raised the car so that I could get the Counterhold Tool T10355A on the pulley while the crank is at TDC.
There is a mark at the top of the timing cover that lines up with the notch at the top of the balancer pulley. I
suggest using an inspection mirror to see it. It’s right at 12:00 from the crank bolt. In all reality, you don’t really
have to set the crank to TDC, but I wanted to check my work and make sure the chain sprocket didn’t move on
me during installation of the tensioner.

Don’t be scared, it’s not going to “magically jump on you”, the Camshafts won’t “pull the lower sprocket out of
time as soon as you remove the pulley”, etc. I will explain in the next step how the TSI crank is and what the
keyways look like. Just don’t be an ham-fisted, don’t use an impact wrench and be sensible. Put all that arm
strength to use! (And have a friend help). Shown below, raise the car until you can get the counterhold tool on:
Here’s what the back side of your TSI crank pulley / chain sprocket / crank nose looks like. The balancer pulley
is keyed via the triangular tooth shown in the first image. The camshaft/oil pump chain sprocket that the
balancer pulley keys too is also keyed to the crankshaft via a flat notch at TDC. Note the slight flat protrusion
in the second image on the back of the sprocket, and the slight flat on the nose of the crankshaft in the third
image. There’s no sorcery or uncertainty here, it’s just that the pulleys are very easy to rotate out of alignment
if they are un-stacked from each other and the keyways can be damaged easily in this case.

What you MUST do is use the Lower Timing Washer T10368 and reinstall the crank bolt with the washer
sandwiched behind it immediately after you remove the balancer pulley in order to keep the stack from rotating
if they happen to be separated from each other. With the crank bolt removed, the chain sprocket is essentially
hanging there.

Using the counterhold tool, break the crank bolt loose using a breaker bar, extension, and 24mm deep well
socket. I used a piece of fence post to extend the breaker bar, use whatever works. The longer it is, the easier
it is to break loose. I can confidently say with the extension, the bolt is no big deal to remove!

Next, Snowball will now show us where the engine support bridge goes. Take note, you can also do this with a
trolley jack holding the engine from the oil pan with a block of wood to support the pan. I did it this way so I
could raise and lower the engine whenever I needed with more or less a guarantee of safety. Take note, after
you remove the engine mount bolts, the engine will settle about 2-3” back closer to the firewall. you WILL need
to use a trolley jack to raise it for reinstalling the engine mounts due to the geometry of the support bar being
farther rearward and not directly centered over the engine hoist hook.
After placing the engine support bridge as shown, lift a bit of weight off the engine mount before breaking the
bolts loose. IIRC, these are 19mm bolts - use your breaker bar to get them loose. They are directly to the left
of your cam chain cover, near your dipstick tube. You do not need to remove the entire engine mount, only
these two bolts. Make sure to buy replacements if you feel like replacing them. They should be replaced since
they are torque-to-yield bolts.

Now, looking from underneath the car, you will see the engine mount bracket. It’s easier to remove this if you
lower the engine 1-2”. Using your short 12mm Triple square (can extract it from a typical socket-style triple
square set), insert the bit into the bolts and use a 10mm open-end wrench to break the bolts. If it helps, I used
the handle of one of my small trolley jacks to extend the wrench for more leverage. Use whatever extension
works.
The dipstick tube is secured with two T20 Torx. After removing them, pull vertically on the tube to release it
from the timing cover. Cover with tape to prevent junk from falling inside.

Now we will remove the crank balancer pulley. Since you’ve already broken it loose, just remove the bolt and
immediately reinstall the new bolt with the T10368 Washer. It is essential that you install this as soon as you
remove the pulley! don’t crank the new bolt on, just run it on finger tight. Maintain TDC if you want to check
your work later.

Next, in order to make removing the timing cover easier, I removed the turbo outlet elbow shown below and
the N75 Wastegate Bypass regulator. It’s easier to get to the top bolt of the elbow if you remove the N75
regulator. When you remove the elbow, note there is a large and thin O-Ring, do not lose this! It should be
much easier to remove the timing cover and reinstall. The three bolts holding the elbow are 6mm hex and 9
NM (80 in-lbs)
 You’re almost ready to remove the timing cover!

Next, in order to access one of the cover bolts,

you must remove the tensioner pulley. I removed
it and put a spare fitting in its place to allow me
to move the pulley around.

In order to remove this cover bolt, you must use

the breaker bar to push the pulley out of the way,
exactly as if you’re loosening the tensioner to
remove the belt.

Sorry for the continuity error, I forgot to take a picture of the old cover. With everything removed, you can see
how easy it is now to get the cover off. I started prying with the screwdriver at the bottom of the cover as
shown below.

Be very careful not to scratch the gasket surface. you will screw the cover up, which is why you should have
another one. I chose this location to pry because it is easily accessible, a leverage point is right below the
cover, and the cover protrudes far off the block gasket surface. Keep working it off, it will eventually pop off.
With the cover removed, this is what you will see first. On the left you will see the item you will be replacing.
You will note that early revision tensioners (All TSI/TFSI pre-2013) will have a spring steel cover on the outside
of the tensioner. As you can see in the second image, I easily pulled it off, so I’m glad I am replacing this part.
Start by adding zip ties to the chain guides in order to keep tension on the chain when the tensioner is
removed. After doing this, You can remove the 2 T30 Torx Bolts to remove the tensioner.

In the first photo below, you will notice the tensioner removed. Installation is quite simple - place the new
tensioner in the correct spot, run the T30 Torx bolts in place, torque to 9 NM / 7 Ft. Lbs. After applying proper
torque, pull the retention clip. the tensioner will apply proper initial force on the chain guide.

Before installing the new cover, you must be sure that the gasket surface is free from old gasket material. You
can use any plastic tool of your choice - I used a plastic phone repair pry tool to clean the gasket surfaces.
place a clean, low lint cloth over the chain assembly wherever you are scraping to prevent gasket material
from falling into the chains, guides, oil pan, etc.
Next, clean the new cover with degreaser and dry thoroughly. As per Permatex, you will need to apply a
2-6mm bead of silicone, surrounding all bolt holes. ensuring that the gasket surface of the engine block is
clean, slowly install the cover.

After replacing the cover, place a small

amount of blue loctite on the threads.

Run each bolt in hand tight. Wait

approximately 1 hour for the gasket material
to set.

After an hour, torque all bolts from 1 to 15 to

8 NM / 5.8 ft. lbs. Then tighten all bolts
again by 45 degrees for the final stage.

That’s it! Assembly is the same as

removal, follow these steps in reverse.

I will supply all torque values below!

Timing Cover Bolts (15) Turbo Outlet Elbow Bolts N75 Wastegate Bypass Accessory Tensioner Pulley
8 Nm / 5.9 ft-lb + 45 deg. (3) - 9 Nm / 80 in-lb Reg. (2) - 3 Nm / 6 ft-lb 23 Nm / 17 ft-lb

Dipstick Tube Bolts (2) - Crankshaft Bolt - 150 Nm / Engine bracket bolts (3) - Engine Mount Bolts (2) -
9 Nm / 6.64 ft-lb 111 ft.lbs + 90 deg. 45 Nm / 33 ft-lb 60 Nm (44 ft-lb) + 90 deg.